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Seidel D, Sal E, Nacov JA, Cornely OA, Kurzai O. [Mucormycosis in the time of COVID-19: risks and challenges]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 2024; 149:569-578. [PMID: 38657596 DOI: 10.1055/a-2139-3902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The first patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 were registered in December 2019. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, the beginning of a worldwide health crisis that revealed numerous medical challenges for healthcare systems and pandemic emergency strategies.Among these challenges, mucormycosis, a typically rare fungal infection, gained global attention. With an average global incidence of about 2 per 1 million people, mucormycosis is considered a very rare disease, an opportunistic infection mostly affecting the lungs or skin and soft tissues in immunocompromised patients. Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus is one of the leading risk factors for rhino-orbital mucormycosis. Countries with a high prevalence of diabetes and limited healthcare resources have higher mucormycosis rates, with India and Pakistan being among the nations with particularly high incidences.During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, mucormycosis rates surged dramatically within a few weeks, with over 47,500 cases of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) reported between May and August 2021. Mucormycosis is characterized by a high mortality rate of up to 90%, especially when the diagnosis is delayed, and treatment commences late. There were concerns about a potentially global threat.In this article, we explore the risk factors and mechanisms leading to this viral-fungal coinfection. We present global distribution patterns, clinical presentation, and challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis.
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Lax C, Nicolás FE, Navarro E, Garre V. Molecular mechanisms that govern infection and antifungal resistance in Mucorales. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2024; 88:e0018822. [PMID: 38445820 PMCID: PMC10966947 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00188-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYThe World Health Organization has established a fungal priority pathogens list that includes species critical or highly important to human health. Among them is the order Mucorales, a fungal group comprising at least 39 species responsible for the life-threatening infection known as mucormycosis. Despite the continuous rise in cases and the poor prognosis due to innate resistance to most antifungal drugs used in the clinic, Mucorales has received limited attention, partly because of the difficulties in performing genetic manipulations. The COVID-19 pandemic has further escalated cases, with some patients experiencing the COVID-19-associated mucormycosis, highlighting the urgent need to increase knowledge about these fungi. This review addresses significant challenges in treating the disease, including delayed and poor diagnosis, the lack of accurate global incidence estimation, and the limited treatment options. Furthermore, it focuses on the most recent discoveries regarding the mechanisms and genes involved in the development of the disease, antifungal resistance, and the host defense response. Substantial advancements have been made in identifying key fungal genes responsible for invasion and tissue damage, host receptors exploited by the fungus to invade tissues, and mechanisms of antifungal resistance. This knowledge is expected to pave the way for the development of new antifungals to combat mucormycosis. In addition, we anticipate significant progress in characterizing Mucorales biology, particularly the mechanisms involved in pathogenesis and antifungal resistance, with the possibilities offered by CRISPR-Cas9 technology for genetic manipulation of the previously intractable Mucorales species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Lax
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Francisco E. Nicolás
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Eusebio Navarro
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Victoriano Garre
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
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Jeican II, Horhat DI, Dumitru M, Florea A, Barbu-Tudoran L, Gheban BA, Anton V, Toader C, Aluaș M, Siserman CV, Balica N, Vrînceanu D, Albu S. COVID-19-Associated Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis: Histological and Electron Microscopy Characteristics. Diagnostics (Basel) 2024; 14:429. [PMID: 38396469 PMCID: PMC10887990 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics14040429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
COVID-19-associated rhino-orbital mucormycosis has become a new clinical entity. This study's aim was to evaluate the histopathological and ultramicroscopic morphological aspects of this fungal infection. This was an observational retrospective study on eight patients from three tertiary centers in Romania. The tissue samples collected during functional endoscopic sinus surgery were studied through histopathological examination, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In the histopathological examination, the morphological aspects characteristic of mucormycosis in all cases were identified: wide aseptate hyphae with right-angle ramifications, which invade blood vessels. One case presented perineural invasion into the perineural lymphatics. And in another case, mucormycosis-aspergillosis fungal coinfection was identified. Through scanning electron microscopy, long hyphae on the surface of the mucosa surrounded by cells belonging to the local immune system were identified in all samples, and bacterial biofilms were identified in half of the samples. Through transmission electron microscopy, aseptate hyphae and bacterial elements were identified in the majority of the samples. Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis associated with COVID-19 produces nasal sinus dysbiosis, which favors the appearance of bacterial biofilms. The way in which the infection develops depends on the interaction of the fungi with cells of the immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ionuț Isaia Jeican
- Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
| | - Delia Ioana Horhat
- Department of Ear-Nose-Throat, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 300041 Timisoara, Romania; (D.I.H.); (N.B.)
| | - Mihai Dumitru
- Department of Ear-Nose-Throat, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050472 Bucharest, Romania; (M.D.); (D.V.)
| | - Adrian Florea
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
| | - Lucian Barbu-Tudoran
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory Prof. C. Crăciun, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- Electron Microscopy Integrated Laboratory, National Institute for R&D of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Bogdan-Alexandru Gheban
- Department of Histology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- Department of Pathology, Emergency Clinical County Hospital, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Vlad Anton
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
| | - Corneliu Toader
- Clinic of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology and Neurovascular Diseases, 041914 Bucharest, Romania;
| | - Maria Aluaș
- Department of Oral Health, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Costel Vasile Siserman
- Institute of Legal Medicine, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- Department of Legal Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Nicolae Balica
- Department of Ear-Nose-Throat, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, 300041 Timisoara, Romania; (D.I.H.); (N.B.)
| | - Daniela Vrînceanu
- Department of Ear-Nose-Throat, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050472 Bucharest, Romania; (M.D.); (D.V.)
| | - Silviu Albu
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, University Clinical Hospital of Railway Company, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
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Nahaei M, Motazedian G, Mohammadi AA, Davarpanah MA, Yazdanpanahi P, Ayareh N, Salari F, Keshtkar A. Evaluation of Clinical Manifestations, Pattern of Involvement, and Surgical Outcomes in Patients with Post Covid-19 Head and Neck Mucormycosis Infection among Patients Admitted To Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran (2021-2022). World J Plast Surg 2023; 12:64-72. [PMID: 38226199 PMCID: PMC10788107 DOI: 10.61186/wjps.12.3.64] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Background COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a global pandemic that particularly affects immunocompromised individuals, leading to secondary bacterial and fungal infections. Mucormycosis, caused by Mucorales fungi, is a severe infection primarily affecting immunocompromised individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a surge in mucormycosis cases worldwide, with India experiencing a significant increase. Various factors, including diabetes mellitus, contribute to the risk of mucormycosis. This study investigated head and neck mucormycosis in patients with prior COVID-19 infection. Methods Data from 45 patients were analyzed, with diabetes being the most common risk factor. Visual symptoms, ethmoid bone involvement, and orbital bone involvement were also identified as significant factors. Results The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in mucormycosis cases, particularly in the head and neck region, with high mortality. Successful management involves addressing underlying factors, surgical debridement, and antifungal therapy. Conclusion Timely debridement reduces morbidity and mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehryar Nahaei
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Gholamreza Motazedian
- Burn and Wound Healing Research Centre, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Ward, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Ali-Akbar Mohammadi
- Burn and Wound Healing Research Centre, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Ward, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | | | - Parsa Yazdanpanahi
- Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Nazanin Ayareh
- Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Fateme Salari
- Trauma Research Center, Shahid Rajaee (Emtiaz) Trauma Hospital, Shiraz Univ-ersity of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Alireza Keshtkar
- Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
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